


#talmage-luci-hotline

by emiOCs (emifail)



Series: CASCADE: The Canon Stuff [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Drunkenness, Holding Hands, Hot Tub, Long-Distance Friendship, M/M, Magical Artifacts, Meeting the Parents, Name Changes, Self-Reflection, Strawberries, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:08:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26113906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emifail/pseuds/emiOCs
Summary: Long-distance messages between Talmage and Luci! By Emily and Ashley.
Relationships: Talmage Sazerac/Luci Calloway
Series: CASCADE: The Canon Stuff [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1493930





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> These are text roleplays that take place between sessions! I've fancied up the grammar/spelling, otherwise they're just copy-pasted. Nothing too exciting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one's a big group chat so it's more of a nightmare to format, no i didn't try very hard
> 
> Bishop: Shad  
> Ares: Ellie  
> Vivienne: Edison  
> Alec, Kairos: Ashley

Peering over the waterfall, Talmage catches the light of the moon. His ring starts to glow faintly. He rushes to cover it, but the ring glows brighter and begins vibrating.

"Talmage, what's that?" Bishop asks, and everyone watches Talmage splash and flail.

Ares nudges him with an elbow. "Mmm? Mm?"

" _Shut_ the fuck UP, _SHUT—_ "

In his head, Talmage can hear Luci's voice. It's a little wibbly and hard to hear, like something is blocking it. Talmage strains to listen.

 _"Wow, you sound like you're having fun,"_ comes the voice. _"I learned to use sword. I miss you guys and wish I could be there too."_ And then, after a second, _"I hope it wasn't weird to say—"_

The lights flicker and the ring glows until it settles next to Talmage's heart.

“Talmage? You okay?” asks Vivienne. Bishop looks uneasy at the lights.

"Wh— Hold on—" Talmage stammers, putting a finger up and stumbling away from the hot tub.

“... I hope he isn’t going to throw up, he didn’t strike me as a lightweight,” says Vivienne.

Ares shakes his head. “Don’t think that was it.”

“Really, though?" teases Raja. "He definitely struck me as one.”

“No, he definitely seems like a man who pushes his liver to its limits when possible.”

Kairos giggles a little into his drink. "How absolutely adorable. Promise rings? Oh, to be young and in love."

"Oh, is ... that what they are," says Bishop.

"Is it not?" Kairos asks innocently.

“Oh, is that what he’s using to talk to _Luci?_ ” Bishop whispers.

Raja grins, all teeth. “Oh, yes it is.”

"I didn't know they were dating already," says Bishop.

“That’s cute," says Vivienne. "Good for him. Must be handy."

"You don't just give someone a ring if you aren't already together," Kairos states confidently. "It's such a powerful symbol of love and commitment. But, I suppose if Talmage isn't wearing his ring properly ..."

"How can you wear a ring wrong," says Bishop.

Raja snorts. “I think you should tell them about what a powerful symbol it is. They don’t strike me as the symbolic types.”

"You're right, I should." Kairos leans half out of the tub. "Talmage, you're going to invite us to the wedding, right?"

Kairos is drunk.

Talmage yells from somewhere on the lower level.

* * *

After escaping, Talmage responds to Luci’s message in a hushed tone.

 _"OH, shit, I bet they're more fun to play with than they are to swallow, HAHAHA!!! Anyway, it's not weird, I'm drunk, so don't worry—”_ He keeps speaking, not realizing he met his limit until a little too late.

He ruffles his hair and paces near the fireplace.

Alec stands, watching Talmage as he holds out a pizza box. The moment they make eye contact, Talmage offers to take the box from him.

"Do you want me to say something about that?" Alec hesitates "... Sir."

"What?" Talmage asks, a little frazzled as he receives the pizza. "Stop calling me sir."

"I was just following protocols." Alec raises an eyebrow. "Do you want to talk to whoever that was more."

"That— huh?"

"Apologies. Let me explain how magic works," Alec sighs. "I can cast a spell for you to exchange words with another person."

Talmage sputters. "I KNOW how magic works— I'm just— not used to— I don't—" He grips the pizza box tighter. "Um. I mean, yeah, sure whatever."

"I apologize for my rudeness." Alec bows a little sharply. He pulls out a wand and draws a symbol in the air. "Please, say the name of who you wish to communicate with, and you will have one minute. I'm going to leave."

Talmage has already hit a roadblock. "Uh, Luci ... Calloway? Shit, uh." He pauses. "Cayden Calloway?" What the fuck is he doing.

He strides even further from the group, out of earshot. The glowing marks in the air swirl to form the name Luci, then Cayden Calloway. They follow Talmage as he walks.

After a few seconds, he hears: "What the fuck is this." Luci's voice comes through much clearer than it usually is.

" _Oh my god._ "

"Who's there— Talmage, is that you?? Did you learn new magic or something, the ring isn't glowing, how many words do I have— _FUCK—_ "

"CALM DOWN!!" Talmage replies, exasperated but amused. "It's a— different, we have a minute - like a literal minute - you have one literal minute to tell me whatever— whatever you wanna tell me, no limits!!" He ruffles his hair, feeling drunk and stupid. "No word limits, I mean!! How's your— family? Are you _okay?_ _Are you lonely? ARES SPILT BLOOD IN THE HOT TUB—_ "

"Oh _god_ , Talmage, that's so much, let me think for a minute— _wait_ — fuck, okay, family is— it's r-really nice, actually." Luci gets choked up a little. "I mean, it's amazing, but I can't stop wanting to be back with everyone else? Is that weird? I have everything I ever wanted right now, but I don't? Like, I wish I could be here _and_ there."

Luci talks very slowly and uses 45 seconds of time. Talmage makes noises of affirmation as Luci is speaking.

"It's— I mean, I think that's totally normal, to want to be with two different groups of people who love you??" He grimaces at his own words. "I mean— magic! Right?? You can just— visit! Whoever you want! We'll figure it out!!!

Talmage hears Luci squeak from the other side followed by some rustling noises.

" _SHUT UP HE'S NOT SAYING THAT HE'S JUST BEING NICE—_ sorry, _GUTTER BARGED IN AND IS BEING WEIRD— OW—_ " There's a muffled, " _YES YOU ARE!!!_ " and then Luci lets out a big sigh. "YEAH, MAGIC, I'M SURE I CAN LEARN TO TELEPORT TO YOU ... everyone just teleports around like it's nothing here ..."

"We _did_ also have you first so— you know, dibs, and all that—"

Luci's voice starts to fade and become more distant as the spell runs out. "Haha, _dibs_."

Talmage wracks his brain for something to end on - the only thing that comes out is, “—I wish we could talk more, I miss—“ _you, I miss seeing your stupid face, I miss laughing with you—_

He groans in frustration, not caring if the dying spell picks it up.  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **THURSDAY NIGHT**
> 
> "Hey, so, I fell asleep last night in front of the bathroom mirror, did I fuck it up?? Gutter won't tell me what's going on help"
> 
> "Hahaaa oh SHIT my bad, can you find another mirror, try the ... kitchen?? Wear something cute, I miss youuu haha ... fuck, ugh"

Talmage never needs an excuse to get drunk. He would also say that the circus in its entirety is one big excuse to do so - in both the celebratory way and the depressing way. Depending on your situation.

After frantically downing his (?) drink in response to Luci’s voice in his head, Talmage digs out the mirror and unwraps it from the dark fabric “protecting” it. He wonders if the glass can break. He wonders what would happen if the glass broke. He realizes this is _terrible_ lighting.

“Oh my god I CANNOT be ugly right now,” Talmage whines out loud before spending five full minutes scouting a better location. One scene change and an expertly-placed drink cup (imbued with a touch of magic) later and he’s convinced this’ll get his good side.

He tries activating the mirror, hoping for but also dreading to see his reflection change. _Maybe it won’t work, maybe it’ll be a different mirror this time, maybe he didn’t think about him enough last time??_

* * *

Talmage’s mirror flickers a couple of times before forming the same view as last night. Definitely a dining room. Nice place. A great view out large, glass, floor-to-ceiling windows and a dark wooden table with two elves sitting at it, both talking loudly over each other.

"No, look— I'm GREAT at disguising myself! I totally wouldn't get caught, and even if I DID, I could get out!! You trained me yourself, don't you think your one and only student could pull it off?"

"You're turning this around to insult me? You-"

They whip their heads simultaneously as the image fully focuses and stare directly at Talmage.

* * *

Talmage immediately covers the mirror with his hand.

“Fuck," he says out-loud, “Uhh--" _Oh god this was so embarrassing._ His mind races - _was this the same room as last time? He recognizes one of them, but who's the other?? Neither of them is--_ “Sorry for interrupting," he quickly mutters, taking his hand off the glass. It's a little smudged now. His face is heating up.

“Is Luci ...?"

* * *

There’s the sound of a chair hitting the ground behind Talmage’s hand. Maybe a glass hitting the floor, but that’s for sure the flash of a spell being cast.

"I'M HERE!!"

More thudding.

“Fuck you, Gutter, give that back!"

“Haha, shrimp, try again when you grow— OW—“

There’s a blur as the mirror flies across the room and lands at the table. Luci and Gutter on the ground where the mirror used to be on the wall in the background. The blur fades and that new elf holds it up to himself.

"You must be Talmage. I'm Lenya, Joaquin's my husband. And I just wanted to let you know that you're making a terrible first impression."

* * *

For a second, Talmage agrees with him. This _is_ a little terrible.

“Ah. Thanks.” He shrugs - dismissive yet sheepish. “I mean, at least it’s … memorable? _Hah_.” The corner of his mouth twitches in an awkward smile and he cranes his neck to see if he can catch a better glimpse of the two boys in the background.

* * *

Lenya doesn't laugh. He just rolls his eyes. He walks over and returns the mirror to the wall.

"Gutter, why don't you finish the dishes for Luci?" There’s a brief spark and Gutter and Luci are left sprawled out on the hardwood floor as Lenya walks back to his seat. Luci struggles to his feet, ducking under Gutter's swing, and over to the mirror.

* * *

NAILED IT. Eye-rolls were always a good reaction. Despite his intrigue towards this new elf's casual use of magic, Talmage’s attention does not stray from his friend.

“Hey,” he says simply, unable to stop his goofy grin. “Hi. I’m in your mirror.” He also tries to not be totally weird when checking out Luci’s appearance. For like, normal reasons. He hasn’t seen him in a few weeks.

* * *

Talmage gets a nice, good look at Luci. Honestly, he looks mostly the same. Less skin showing. He's got on a nice matching set of a pullover hoodie and some leggings. His ass, covered. The most important update is his hair pulled partially back in a small ponytail. It's. Very cute.

"Is it only this mirror?" Luci leans in so his face is basically pressed against the glass, his head bobbing around and eyes looking everywhere but at Talmage.

* * *

He ... acknowledges Luci’s hair and files that away for later. Talmage’s face still feels warm - probably from the awkward introduction. Or, no wait, he was still drunk.

“Uhhh, I think so.” He snickers. “I don’t think you can fit through it, dude.” How big is their mirror? Ugh, how big is his FACE right now? Talmage holds the mirror further away.

* * *

Luci presses his fingers against the mirror and watches as the glass ripples with his magic.

"Dunno, maybe you could try grabbing my hand.”

* * *

He lets out a bark of forced laughter and his focus flickers to the elf at the table. Internally, Talmage screams.

“YEAH, like THAT’S gonna work,” he mocks, uncharacteristically shutting the idea down - but he still places a few of his own fingertips against Luci’s. Idly, he thinks about the ring on his other hand, out of sight. The screaming grows louder

* * *

Luci stares real focused-like at the spot where their fingers touch on the glass. His eyes glow light rings around the pupils as the magic pulses out his finger tips. The glass gives like a liquid until their fingers press against each other.

* * *

Talmage’s breath hitches. His vision darts between Luci’s bright eyes and their hands making contact. He doesn’t know what to focus on.

“Oh,” is all he says before attempting to push forward and slot their fingers together.

* * *

Talmage’s fingers start to slip through as he lets Luci's magic flow into him again. It's been a while, but that jolt still sends shivers through him. The magic isn't as aggressive, isn't bursting at the seams, as he starts to slide his fingers against Luci's.

"Oh my _GOD._ Get a room you two!!” Gutter yells.

* * *

Talmage wrenches his hand back, heart pounding as he nearly fumbles the mirror. He immediately regrets letting go.

“Doesn’t he have _dishes_ to be doing,” Talmage snaps, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. Luci’s reflection shakes as Talmage’s grip does the same. Okay, so they can apparently touch each other through the mirror. Cool. Cool cool cool.

* * *

Lenya barks out a laugh.

"Gutter, are you creating a new rule of no flirting in the dining room? Because boy, that's not going to last.”

Luci pulls his hands back and rubs through his hair in frustration.

“FUCK— I just wanted to show you how I’m getting better at this magic stuff!"

* * *

“No, no—“ Talmage insists, running a hand down his face - he was burning up. “That’s— you were— it was _really_ cool, you know—“

It _was_ cool. It was _very_ cool and he would love nothing more than to test its boundaries. Maybe when Luci’s entire family wasn’t watching them.

* * *

Talmage gets to watch Luci turn red. Congratulations.

“Everyone here is really good at magic, like, really, really good." Luci takes a second to look back at the mirror. ”I can't wait to show everyone soon.”

* * *

_Oh god, fuck. He‘s so fucking cute FUCK_

Talmage’s stomach kind of hurts and his eyes are doing the thing where they get wet for some reason, but he grins at the mirror and nods excitedly.

“Fuck yeah. You’re gonna be perfect, dude.” A pause, and then, “Oh also we only have like, a minute to talk I think—“

* * *

“Only a minute? Damn, that sucks— I was excited to actually get to talk to you for more than 20 words—“

* * *

He _does_ kind of just spend the last few seconds staring at Luci. Heck, maybe Talmage tries to see where he … wears his ring ..… because i’m still not sure ……….

* * *

the ring is around his neck congrats


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **SATURDAY MORNING**
> 
> "Hey Talmage, that mirror trick is cool-- Lenya and Gutter did some magic shit with it and said that it's cool if you call.  
> ... Cool ... Ugh, _cool,_ I'm so--"
> 
> "Ooh, haha, _cool_ that I have your dad's blessing ... anyway, you should try calling me with it, dunno if you can, but it's worth--"

Talmage’s mirror starts vibrating.

"Is it working ... fuck, I can't tell, it’s all dark, I can't fuckin’ see nothin’—“ Luci's voice is muffled from inside the bag.

* * *

Talmage jumps. He was NOT ACTUALLY EXPECTING IT TO— and right NOW— He digs the mirror out with one hand and quickly fixes his hair with the other. They’re probably at breakfast or something? At the resort. Talmage is sitting near the reflection pond. He looks tired.

“Uh. Well that worked.”

* * *

“See? Nice job, Lulu, told ya you could do it." Gutter smacks Luci on the back with a loud WHACK. “Be good, you two!” He looks directly at Talmage and winks before walking off.

Luci stands at the mirror wearing another new outfit!!! This time it’s a fitted turtleneck without any sleeves, like the rest of the Calloway clan wears. He is flushed and kinda sweaty actually and his hair is pulled back again.

“Mm— yeah, thanks Gutter."

* * *

Talmage is thankful the moment Gutter leaves - Gidley is the only person who's winked at him like _that_ in a while. He gives Luci's outfit a look. _He's ... super cute. Was he just working out? Training? It’s so early. Ugh, look at his hair._

“You're, uh, damn-- looking like a totally new person, huh?" Smirking, he adds, “ _Lulu_." Then he realizes he's in public! Talking to a magical mirror. He immediately acts like he's checking on his appearance before scanning to make sure no one else is around.

* * *

“Damn it, Talmage, not you too. Don’t call me that, it’s so ... cutesy. Ugh.” He was just working out, you’re right, Talmage. He’s looking really good. Not that he didn’t before. But it’s been a month of hard work, ya know.

* * *

Talmage snickers.

“What do you _want_ me to call you then?” He eats a berry off his breakfast plate.

* * *

He doesn’t look up at the mirror. Luci opens and closes his mouth a few times without saying anything.

“I don’t fuckin’ know, okay? _Luci_ isn’t even my name to begin with at all.” He rubs a hand down his face, shoulders tense.

* * *

Talmage’s lips purse comically. Ah, fuck, that didn’t work.

“Woah, hey! Uh, that’s fine—“ he backpedals, “We don’t have to— names are dumb, anyway— Ares is going by Ruby now, so you can be— if you wanna change stuff up, I mean— it can’t get worse than _that_ —“ God, Talmage desperately wants Luci to have this talk with someone for real, but not _now_.

* * *

“It's whatever, it's not your problem—” Luci finally manage to look up at the mirror and his brow furrows. “W-Where ARE you?"

* * *

Talmage looks conflicted at the topic change. He’ll— later, right?

“A resort!” he answers, and then quieter: “ _For a mission. Murder stuff_. Strawberry?” He holds a berry up the mirror, presenting it to Luci.

* * *

Luci goes a little bit cross-eyed, leaning in closer to look at the strawberry. He sure does struggle looking at things close up.

“You what? What do I do, just, like, open my mouth and you throw it through???"

* * *

“I said a _resort_ ,” he repeats, holding the berry closer to the glass. “ _No_ , you dummy, come grab it. I wanna try something.”

* * *

Luci's nose bumps the glass and a small ripple of magic glows.

"Oh, uh, okay. I’m usually better at night—“ He squints and pushes his fingers against the glass. It's not as smooth as last night as he slowly starts to make the glass part.

* * *

Talmage watches in deep fascination, focusing on the way the glass shudders and shifts. He pushes the fruit against Luci’s fingers, curious how it will react to the mirror’s surface.

“You seem pretty good during the day, too,” he mutters.

* * *

Luci begins pulling his hand back carefully. He smoothly gets most of his fingers back before the strawberry halts against the threshold.

“Fuck, come on—“ Luci mutters and yanks a few times, meeting the same resistance. He places an arm out of view against something to brace himself as the strawberry starts glowing. He swears again and pulls, the strawberry slipping through to his side as the pressure squishes it between his fingers.

"That sucked."

Without hesitation, he starts licking his fingers clean.

"Fuck, I knew I shouldn't have done it until I knew I could make it work.”

* * *

Talmage stares down at Luci’s flushed and determined face - and a little bit at his mouth. This scene feels. Familiar. _Anyway—_

“Hey— shut up, that was fucking cool!!” he says, genuinely excited by this and wanting Luci to feel the same. “I can, like, _send_ you shit!”

* * *

Luci's thumb comes out of his mouth with a pop.

"I gotta practice some more, this magic shit is really fucking hard and I burned a lot training with Gutter and Prince Theodore this morning."

* * *

“P ... Prince?" Talmage asks, trying to sound as non-threatened as possible and probably failing. He sucks on his own finger just to do something with his mouth, tasting a bit of the strawberry remnants.

* * *

“Oh yeah, he’s—“ Luci ducks to the side and points out the back glass door. Gutter is standing there, talking animatedly to a large, Bishop-sized man with long, flowing, gold hair and casual sweatpants. They’re smiling at each other, having a lively conversation.

“He’s a Solis. He’s related to Bishop as much as I’m related to everyone here. Gutter’s rival, and he’s _really_ fucking strong.”

* * *

Talmage takes this in, nodding weakly. His brain lags a bit, and all he can think about is how hot this dude is? Honestly, both of them - but the blue one doesn’t stand out as threat. (To him, anyway. To many, many other people? Likely.)

“Oh, uh, wow,” he says with a crooked smile. “Tell him I said ... hi?”

The mirror blips out and Talmage swears, having forgotten to keep track of time. Tell him you said _hi?? What??? Idiot?????_ He eats the rest of his breakfast angrily.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **SUNDAY SENDING** \- night, after frog
> 
> “Hey, is it cool if I talk to you about something important? Not CRAZY important— it’s, like, not a BIG deal— just maybe kind of—“

"Oh shit, is everything okay? Yeah, lemme just— SHUT UP GUTTER— okay, yeah, I'm here."

* * *

Talmage appears in the mirror looking a little impatient. His hair is messier than usual, his braid-whatever is kind of fucked up, and he’s wearing a resort robe. He’s found a secluded place to talk, no indication of their friends being nearby.

“Hey. Hi.” He's doing the thing again where his mouth wants to smile way more than he's comfortable with, so it turns into an awkward grimace instead. He also immediately tries looking for Gutter, hoping he's not in the room with Luci.

After a second, he quickly tacks on: “Everything’s fine.” (Everything _was_ fine, more or less.)

* * *

The Calloway dining room is, thankfully, empty - except for Luci. There's a small, blue light coming from the right side, and the muffled chatter of conversation.

Luci squints, eyes darting around Talmage. After a moment, they land on him and he lets out a sigh of relief.

"Man, I am constantly worried about you guys, you know." He chews on his lower lip nervously. "I know y'all are tough, but— oh, you've got a stick in your hair. I'd reach in and grab it, but, you know."

* * *

Talmage darts a hand up, rummaging through his hair and— yep, that’s a twig. Neat. That may as well be there. He pulls it out, wincing.

“Fuck, sorry - we just fought a giant frog and I’m still kind of running on that adrenaline right now.” He pauses, realizing he has NO interest in rehashing that whole deal. “Anyway, _uh_ , that’s— not what I wanted to talk about.”

Panic starts to flare up inside him, but he aggressively stomps it back down.

* * *

Luci may be an idiot, but this idiot CAN tell when his bro is stressed out. He pulls up one of the saddle-shaped barstools and takes a seat.

“I know it sucks we can’t talk like we used to all the time ... but you can still talk to me about anything, Talmage.”

* * *

Talmage is a little taken aback by Luci’s softness. He ruffles his hair again. This wasn’t supposed to be—

“Y-Yeah, I’m just gonna— Okay, I’m bad at this— at saying shit like this, so it might be super weird— but just fucking deal with it, okay?” He talks quickly, defensively, and looks around to make sure no one can hear him. “... If that’s cool.”

* * *

He scrunches his face. He's not sure if Talmage is trying to pick a fight with him or not ... maybe he's an idiot ... or is Talmage the idiot?

“Hit me.”

* * *

Talmage looks determined, but sheepish. He takes a breath.

“If— you— want, anyone, to call you by a certain name, you can just ask? I— I like saying your name, but I wanna do it right, you know?” He barely stops himself from grimacing, immediately feeling both relief and horror at his own words.

* * *

Luci lets those words hang in the air for a moment. He blinks a couple of times. Maybe he’s processing, maybe he’s thinking really hard about this deep and personal question that defines him as a person—

“What?”

* * *

Talmage also blinks. Then his face screws up.

“You— Your fucking _name!!_ ” he snaps, embarrassed. He grips the mirror tighter. “You seemed— stressed out about it?? And I’ve heard some people say— like, maybe if you wanted me to— you know! Call you—” He trails off, mumbling.

* * *

"O-Oh, that, haha—" Luci flushes. "That's ... I've never really talked to anyone about that before ..."

He averts his gaze and his hands wave around as he tries to catch words and put them together. "I don't really need to say anything with Gidley. They just started calling me Luci one day ... and, I mean, I do like who, uh, Luci is—"

He goes quiet for a few breaths as his feet swing back and forth. "But honestly, man ... _Cayden Calloway_ ... I'm kind of scared of him."

* * *

Talmage isn’t entirely sure what to say at first. He’s giddy he’s the first person to talk to Luci about this, sad it took someone this long to do so, and terrified to realize he has no good advice.

“He doesn’t seem _that_ bad,” Talmage finally says. His voice is soft, but teasing. “Just another dumb circus guy. Except with a fancier name. And magical powers?”

* * *

"Oh. I guess I never really thought about it being, you know, all the same me." He's still not looking at Talmage. "Mom always told me that our family name was special and to only tell people I trust what it was. I never knew why, and when Bishop just fucking GUESSED it ..."

Luci glances over his shoulder, looking at where the conversation is murmured in the next room. "I kinda understand now, though."

* * *

"You’re _special_ ,” Talmage says bluntly, “but that doesn’t mean you have to suddenly act like another fuckin’ person.” He pauses. “Or maybe it does, but, like— Cayden is whoever _you_ want him to be.” The name is ... weird to say. It’s weird, but he ignores that.

He’s looking at Luci, trying to gauge his feelings on all this. Hearing Gutter being chastised about something in the background gives Talmage a weird pang of guilt for taking Luci from his— from the others, for _this_. He ignores that, too.

* * *

"I think I do wanna figure it out, though ... even if it's scary?" Luci says, and a soft smile pulls at the corner of his mouth. "Thanks man, really."

Luci wears all his emotions so obviously. It's not hard to get a read on him. He seems a little hesitant, but at the same time to trust Talmage completely.

* * *

"Y-Yeah,” Talmage agrees, shrugging. “It’s, you know, it’s whatever.” It doesn’t _feel_ like whatever. His mouth is trying to betray him by grinning widely again, but he reigns that shit in.

“Just don’t, you know, realize you’re too cool to keep hanging out with us.” His attempt at a joke ends up sounding a little pathetic, so tacks on a forced laugh just in case and fidgets with something in his hand.

* * *

"No way, man, you guys are the coolest people I know!" Luci's fighting spirit gets back in him as he physically shakes his head to clear out his emo thoughts.

"I'm still a damn clown, don't you forget that!"

* * *

That last comment hits Talmage in the gut, and he finally smiles. "God," he says weakly, "You sure fuckin’ are.” He fidgets a bit more, rotating the ring in his hand.

"Uh, so, before I go, I probably have to deactivate the— the sending stones, soon, that we use— but we still have— whatever this is?" He gestures at the distance between them. For how _long_ , he isn't entirely sure. He’s half-expecting fanny pack man to hit him with a long distance bill out of nowhere.

* * *

“Oh, yeah, that’s ... cool.” He trails off, biting at his lip. Not the fun kind of cool.

“I should see if I can move this off the dining room wall, huh.”

* * *

“Ah,” Talmage says, thankful Luci was the one to suggest it first. “Maybe, _yeah_ , somewhere less … public?”

He switches to twirling his necklace around his finger like the string of a hoodie.

“If you _drop_ it, though, I’m gonna be pissed.”

* * *

"I won't drop it! I have great reflexes. I'll keep it safe. You guys do the same!"


End file.
